Keys of Knowledge
by grenouillenue
Summary: Kurt goes to New York and so does someone else. Note this is not a Kurt/Dawn romance story.
1. Kurt's Prologue

_I have done more research for this than anything else I've done but there will still be holes in my information and some things I don't really feel I needed the specific information, also I may be using more of the official information which may not be the actual perception_

* * *

Tomorrow, he's moving to New York for his new beginning, he hasn't been this nervous since he auditioned for New Directions in his sophomore year.

Kurt is starting at Tisch on Monday taking Drama; Musical Theatre. He didn't get into NYADA with Rachel, she was getting that dream and he was going to be in that city with her fighting his way to the top. He was strong; he made sure he had a backup plan. '_A backup plan'_, he thought incredulously with a soft chuckle, '_he had more than one other option for September.'_

He still wasn't sure that performing was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life; he loved it but was it his future? He applied to design school as well. He had been accepted into Columbus College and Parsons for design, as well as getting into Elon University in North Carolina for Musical Theatre as well as Tisch. Once he got the letters from Tisch and Parsons he knew where he was going, New York had been his dream for too long to let it go.

He actually deferred his admission to Parsons for a year(1), thinking that he might change schools next year depending on how the next 10 months go for him. Another thing that was making him anxious was that he was not going to be living with Rachael, as they had been talking about for the past months. Burt had convinced him that he needed to stay in dorm for at least a year. He was ecstatic when he found out that not only was his dorm right off Broadway but he had been placed in the New Studio: Music Theatre and Acting program for his Professional Training for the next two years, if he stayed at Tisch. The New Studio was RIGHT on Broadway.

His nerves were tempered by Blaine's absence and Burt's presence. He and Blaine have agreed to try and make their long distance relationship work.

Blaine is still at McKinley, for another 5 months. Kurt is thankful that Blaine's extra credits from Dalton helped him graduate early.(2) He can't imagine how he would cope with 10 months of separation. Thinking of Blaine keeps him subdued because he misses him; Burt, on the other hand, has always been a calming influence on Kurt. As he thinks, his father steps up beside him and slings his arm around his shoulders. They're standing outside his dorm, looking up at the building where he will be spending the next 10 months.

"You made it! You're here. Go live your dream," says Burt, stepping through the door with a box under his arms. Kurt looks around at the city, smiles and follows his father inside.

* * *

1. A few people I know in different programs have deferred their education for up to a year.

2. I actually graduated 5 months early from High School; it is completely possible especially in the semester system.

This is my first Glee fic ever. Please read and respond.


	2. Dawn's Prologue

**Title: **Keys to Knowledge – Chapter 2

**Writer:** Grenouillenue

**Fandom:** BTVS – Cross with Glee

**Characters: **Dawn Summers & Kurt Hummel, slash in later chapters

**Rating: **G for now will go up later (probably)

**Prompt:** 71 - Broken

**Word Count: **1300

**Summary: **Kurt is in New York, and so is someone else.

* * *

_**A/N**_: I've changed the timeline; imagine that "_Chosen_" happens in Kurt's senior year.

* * *

New York? Everyone else was going to all these new places; these exotic, exciting places and she was stuck in the states? Granted, Giles is in Cleveland keeping an eye on the new Hellmouth and Faith and Robin are rounding up new Slayers around the country, but it's not the same. Willow and Kennedy are in South America, Xander has opted to go to Africa, and Buffy, well, she's having a little trouble coping with not being the only one anymore, although she hasn't actually been the only one for a little over five years, not since she drowned in The Master's lair. She doesn't know how to connect with anyone now, so she's taking some time off trying to figure out who she is when she's just Buffy. For some reason, she can't do that with Dawn around.

"Wow, I'm depressing," Dawn said out of the blue, earning her a strange look from the older woman sitting next to her on the plane out of Cleveland.

At this point, Dawn decided it was time to make the most out of this forced exile to the East Coast. She comforted herself with the fact that she was still going to be able to help the Council. She was studying Anthropology-linguistics and History; Giles had pulled some strings with some of the remaining Council contacts and she was going to be auditing most of the courses for Religious Studies, but anything that would help the Council and the Slayers. They had offered her some time to relax and enjoy being off the Hellmouth, but she wanted to be useful. When Buffy tried to get Xander to take her away from the final battle in Sunnydale, Dawn knew that she never wanted to be useless again. She also knew she could never compete with the Slayers for strength, but she was going to be the best Watcher there ever was, knowing how Slayers thought, how to deal with the H&H's, well, not deal with, but… She knew to keep the fridge for the Slayer metabolism; the only problem was keeping her hand out of the junk food.

Lost in thought, soon she was getting out of the cab at her new residence. Tipping the driver, Dawn looked up at her home-away-from-home, Brittany Hall and started wheeling her suitcase up the stairs when the wheel suddenly broke, sending her toppling into an older man walking down the stairs.

"I got ya," said the man in his flannel shirt and baseball cap, catching Dawn around her upper arms.

"Thanks," she mumbled, feeling klutzy. Upon steadying herself, the man grabbed her suitcase.

"What floor?"

"The seventh," Dawn said, embarrassed. "I can get it."

"Nonsense!" he said. "I think I can make one more trip up these stairs. Which room?"

"Thank you; it says 708S."

"My son's your neighbor," the man says as they reach the 7th floor. "Are you moving on your own?"

"Yes, my sister's staying in Rome for now and the rest of my family are scattered around the globe," Dawn answered, unsure how to explain the Scoobies.

As the two made their way down the hall, an immaculately dressed young man appeared from suite 7.

"Dad!" he said, exasperated. "You were supposed to wait in the car. I was going to meet you there. What about your heart?"

"Kurt, I met your new neighbor," he said, completely avoiding the issue of his heart.

"Hi, I'm Kurt Hummel." The boy extended a perfectly manicured hand.

Dawn shook it and smiled gently. "Dawn Summers."

* * *

_**A/N2**_: I made Dawn a lot sadder than I planned it.

For those who didn't know, the H&H's are the Hungries and Hornies that Slayers experience after slaying.

I know Brittany Hall was closed for the 2012-13 school year. It shows on that Brittany is not a freshman hall, but one site did say that it had been a freshman residence, so just go with it. I liked that it was on Broadway. Also, Dawn and Burt walked up the stairs because of all the moving in thus lack of elevators.

See that box down there? Please leave me a note to tell me what you think.  
Ashley


	3. Interlude 1

**Word Count: **399

**Disclaimer: **I do not profit from this work

**Summary: **Kurt is in New York, and so is someone else.

**Un-Betad**

* * *

Date: Sunday September 9, 2012  
To: Blaine Anderson McKinnley . edu

Hi,

How are things at McKinnley? I know we just talked yesterday but I wanted tell you about my first week in New York. The parties this weekend were insane. I've got **four** roommates, the last one just arrived today. His name is Arden Gunn, he's from LA. I can't believe that someone would choose to leave LA and come here, where it is cold. He seems a little strange, he was limping when he arrived. I am so glad he's in the other room because they guys were complaining about him talking in his sleep, calling out for someone named Alonna. My room-mate Malcolm seems fine, he's quiet and seems more or less normal. He was extremely into the partying this weekend, and he didn't come home last night but I hope he isn't too much of a partyer.

How is New Directions? Is Mr. Shue talking about new soloists, now that Rachel and 'Cedes are gone? How are your classes?

I miss you, I'm surprised I made it to the end of the e-mail before I wrote that, I MISS YOU!

I love you soo much, I can't wait until you come and visit me.

Love, Kurt

* * *

Date: Monday, September 10, 2012  
To: hukurt nyu . edu

I MISS YOU TOO! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

McKinley is good, we've started competing to see who will be the "new Rachel". Just so you know none of the new students are at your level. I decided to run for council president, Britt is running again. Classes are easy, I can't wait to see you again either. I think I can come visit near the end of October. :)

You will do great at NYU. I know you didn't ask how I thought you would do but I can hear it in your voice every time we talk. I hope your room-mates don't give you too much trouble. They seem nice from what you've told me.

There's a new guy in glee named Jake, he's Puck's half-brother. I don't even think that Puck knew he existed. He's pretty good but he seems to have a bit of Puck's attitude.

Have you or Rachel heard from Finn? No one in Lima has heard anything from him since he went off to the army.

Love you, miss you

Blaine.

_I sat down to write chapter 5 but this is what came out. I also have a Dawn interlude for after chapter 3. _

_Chapter 3 should be posted soon, my beta said she'd have it for me on Monday._

_PLEASE I NEED MORE NAMES_

- _At least 4 girls names_

- _At least one more guys name_


	4. Making Friends

_**A/N**_: I wanted to write this chapter in first person, either Kurt or Dawn's POV, but this chapter has the two interacting and I want there to be some background info for both of them, so it is in 3rd person for this chapter, but it may change in the next.

This chapter is for werestillflying, my very first reviewer; one of Kurt's roommates is named for a character from a TV show we both enjoy.

* * *

After their first meeting, Kurt and Dawn don't see each other for two weeks. Both are caught up in trying to find their own rhythm and adjust to life in New York that they don't even spare a thought for each other. Kurt practically forgot her until his father asks about her on the phone that weekend.

Kurt pauses for a minute. "I'm not sure."

"I hope she's doing alright. She said her sister was in Rome and she never mentioned her parents," answered Burt. Kurt couldn't keep himself from laughing under his breath. Burt really couldn't stop his habit of adopting strays and people who seemed alone or lonely. He was surprised that it took Burt two weeks to ask about her.

"I will talk to her tomorrow," Kurt said, half-serious, half-trying to placate his father before he transitioned, albeit not very smoothly, into complaining about the general education requirements for his degree. A few minutes passed and Kurt sighed, looking over at his desk to the reading he should start. He bid farewell to his father and cringed at the mere thought of staying up to finish reading. "At least tomorrow's Sunday," he said to no one in particular. His roommate, Malcolm, raised his head and looked at him.

"What?" he asked, thinking Kurt was talking to him.

"Just talking to myself, Mal. Go back to your nap." Kurt glanced at his books and grasped that he couldn't leave all of it off until the next day; he was meeting Rachel at a nearby coffee shop to discuss their first weeks.

Sunday morning came all too early. Kurt had finished all his readings for the next three days, and was feeling keen for the first week of school, but knew it wouldn't last. He got up and started getting ready for the day. Mal had commented on his morning and evening routines earlier in the week and Kurt quickly realized that, in order to get uninterrupted bathroom time, he had to rise earlier, having not being used to sharing a room or bathroom. After Burt and Carole wed, they moved, so he didn't have to share with Finn and the two of them had their own bathrooms. Now, he was one of five guys using the one bathroom in their suite. He was by far the most "high maintenance" of the group.

Kurt walked out of his room and through the attached room, careful not to wake the sleeping boys. He shut the door gently and locked it, checking that he had his ID card and wallet. Turning to leave, he ran straight into Dawn, knocking them both to the ground.

"Sorry," Kurt mumbled, rubbing his hip where he had landed.

"Are you okay?" Dawn asked and laughed when she realized who she crashed into. Kurt looked over at her like she was insane. "Sorry, it must be something about your family. I literally fell into your dad on the stairs on moving day."

"Are you all settled?" Kurt picked himself up and offered Dawn a hand. She accepted the gesture with a smile.

"More or less; the rest of my stuff just arrived yesterday." By that, she meant that Penni had appeared with her stuff in her dorm room, mere seconds after her roommate had left. "Any plans for today?"

"Yeah, I'm going for coffee with a friend from high school who goes to NYADA," Kurt said, noticing that Dawn was looking a little lost and lonely.

"NYADA?"

"New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. We're just going for coffee. Did you want to join us?" he asked. Okay, maybe he inherited a bit of his father's penchant for adopting strays.

"Really?" Dawn looked eager. "That'd be great. Hold on a sec, let me just put my books away."

* * *

Kurt and Dawn walked into La Pâtesserie Quotidienne, a coffee shop two blocks down from the apartment. Rachel, of course, was already there, sitting, not quite patiently, in the corner watching the door for Kurt's entrance. She already had his coffee in hand, so Kurt motioned for Dawn to get her coffee and join them.

"Who's the girl?" Rachel asks, an eyebrow raised.

"Her name's Dawn, she's next door. Dad ran into her when he moved me in. I think he's adopted her from a distance."

"Oh, alright."

"Hi," Dawn said with a small wave, sitting down next to Kurt.

"Dawn, this is Rachel. Rachel, this is Dawn."

"Hi, where are you from?" Rachel asked.

"Sunnydale," Dawn replied, feeling uncomfortable with the intense look in Rachel's eyes.

"That's the town that sunk last year, isn't it?"

"Wow," Kurt muttered, turning to Dawn as well, unsure what to ask next, thinking about having your entire town fall into a sinkhole.

"Yeah," Dawn said, looking from Kurt to Rachel. "That's the look everyone gets when I tell them where I grew up. Home, if you can call it that, is Cleveland now."

"Cleveland, huh?"

"Yeah, Buffy moved to Rome, so now I'm staying with Giles and Faith in Cleveland."

"Buffy?" Rachel asked bluntly.

"She's my sister."

"Oh, Kurt, do you think I should cut my hair?" Rachel said suddenly.

"That was kind of a non-sequitur, don't you think, Rach?"

"It's okay," Dawn shrugged. "My family's not the easiest to explain."

Rachel, Kurt, and Dawn finished their coffees and engaged in discussions about their classes. Kurt and Dawn found that they shared a French class. About an hour and a half following meeting, Rachel and Dawn had exchanged numbers and Kurt and Dawn headed back to Brittany House.

* * *

_**A/N**_: Please read and review - THANK YOU.

The first 6 reviewers will get to name Kurt and Dawn's remaining roommates. They won't play a major role in the story, but they will be mentioned a few times. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated (just first names, please).

My coffee shop is loosely based on the La Pain Quotidien that I found online.

I was going to have this happen the first school weekend, but I don't want to write the end of FROSH/Orientation week and the parties that usually occur that weekend.

I don't know what the schedule would look like for a first-year NYU student, so I'm going to base this off my own university experience and what I can glean from the NYU website. If anyone knows how many courses students take per semester at Tisch, please let me know.

P.S. Did anyone see Naya Rivera's M&Ms ad? I love it.


	5. Interlude 2

This is a short interlude between chapters 3 and 4.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Buffy or Glee except all 7 seasons of BTVS on DVD

**Dear Buffy**

I hope you get this letter. Giles told me he would get this to Andrew in Rome but who knows if it will get to you any time soon.

NYU is a big change from being in Sunnydale and even from from spending my days in Giles' library in Cleveland. The first two weeks were difficult, I didn't know anyone and my roommates all get along great, but they remind me of Harmony. Last weekend I literally ran into my neighbour Kurt who I met while I was moving in. He invited me to go for coffee with him and one of his friends from High School. Her name was Rachel and she goes to NYADA. She's basically Cordelia with musical talent, she has the same understanding of tact as Cordelia did.

I think Kurt is gay, he hasn't said anything but I caught him discretely checking out guys on the streets when we went for coffee. I don't know how to let him know that I don't care, I think I'm going to tell him about Willow and Tara Kennedy later.

Classes are as hard as I expected, they'll probably get harder as we go along but all of my extra research with Giles and his prep have really helped me. Also I found the best pizza ever down the street from my building, they even have anchovies.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Love  
_Dawn_

*************************************************************************************************

**Dawn**

I hope you're settling in well. New York, I used to dream about getting out of Sunnydale and learning. I loved university. I always wanted to learn, I remember that in High school knowledge was frowned upon. I had to work to learn but on a university campus the energy. I remember telling your sister that I could feel my mind opening up and letting the penetrating force of the collective intelligence thrust into my mind and spurt knowledge. You're probably looking at me the same way Buffy did and I will state for the record that, that sentence ended up somewhere completely different from where it started and from where I thought it was going.

Are you settling in well? How are your room-mates? I remember Buffy's first room-mate was a demon who tried to suck out her soul. Mine was a total party girl; I lived at the library for the first two weeks before I moved in with Buffy.

Kennedy and I are traveling around South America looking for potentials; we've found a few in the last few weeks. We also found this really interesting tablet outside of El Altar in Ecuador. I sent it to Giles but here's a rubbing of the tablet and I'll send you an e-mail with the pictures I took of the volcano and the area where we found the tablet.

I hope you are doing well, Kennedy and I will be back in the country for Christmas.

Love  
_Willow_


	6. 4a Heading Home - Faith

**Rating: **G for now will go up later (probably)

**Word Count: **1023

**Disclaimer: **I do not profit from this work

**Summary: **Kurt is in New York, and so is someone else.

**AN: I don't hate Mr. Shue but there are a lot of guidelines for teachers that he crosses. - This is a bit of a transition chapter.**

During the next month Dawn and Kurt became good friends. She told him about her life in Sunnydale and how much she lost when it sank. It sounds like there's something she's not telling him.

She told him about her family, Buffy who was in Rome, though Dawn looked so sad when she talked about spending time with her in Sunnyhell, as she called it. She talked about Giles a lot, he seemed like the kind uncle but that's not who he was it seemed he was both more and less depending on which story she was telling. And once I discovered that he was her sister's librarian through high school Kurt wished they had, had someone like that at McKinley. Mr Shue tried but he was dealing with all of his issues and seemed to want the New Directions to help him solve his problems at the same time as he tried to teach them. She also told him about Willow and Kennedy, who reminds him of Santana with money. I think she made a point of talking about Willow and her ex-girlfriend living with her and her sister because she knew Kurt was gay. It wasn't like he was one of the gay guys who seem straight on first meeting, like Blaine could, unless he was hyper or overtired.

Kurt couldn't believe that it was fall recess next that weekend. Dawn had been going on about the fact that she was going back to Cleveland for the weekend, while Kurt was staying in New York with Rachel. Her roommate (Rachel roommate)'s sexcapades have not slowed down since the first week so Rachel will be taking advantage of the fact that Malcolm is going back to Massachusetts for the weekend and is moving in with Kurt. Kurt is sure he will regret it before the week is out but it's only for 4 nights. They're meeting Friday afternoon at La Pâtesserie Quotidienne, which has become _their_ coffee shop.

With the break approaching their teachers were piling on the work and mid-terms were coming up. Kurt was stressed with Rachel moving in and all of the work he and Dawn hadn't seen each other outside of meals at the cafeteria for most of the week leading up to break; they spent most meals shovelling in their food as quick as they can so they could get back to studying and papers. Some of the other freshmen seemed less stressed, they were the ones who spend every weekend in a drunken haze and would be gone by the next year unless their parents had the money to ensure their enrolment. Dawn seemed to be taking it all in stride, apparently used to working and researching under pressure. Kurt on the other hand never had to cram so hard in his life; everything academic at McKinley came to him easily. The only thing he could compare this to was his first weeks at Dalton and the catch-up work he had to do.

Dawn was leaving Friday night and in order to spend some time with Kurt she was going to coffee with him and Rach.

"When is your family getting here?" Rachel asked

"Soon, they're gonna text me before they show up."

"Who's coming?" Kurt asked, knowing more about her family than Rachel did.

"I'm not sure, Xander said he was heading back to the states soon, but Faith and Robin have been touring around the country for the last few months so it depends who's closer."

"Xander? Faith? Robin? Who are they?" Rachel asked

"They're part of my family. Xander's been around since we moved to Sunnydale and Faith showed up almost two years later. We all got out of Sunny-D together." At that point Dawn's phone beeped, she checked it and sent back a quick reply. "Well Faith's at the dorm, I just sent her directions, they should be here soon." Kurt was excited to meet Faith, she was one of the more colourful people of the group, well except for Spike, but she didn't mention him that much and when she did she started to tear up.

"Yo brat, you packed?" Came a voice from the entry of the coffee shop. Dawn looked slightly embarrassed, and waved the girl over. She had a tight figure packed into leather pants and a 90's style cropped top that made Kurt cringe for fashion, though he couldn't deny that it worked for her, still, his figures itched for a makeover.

"I'm packed; please tell me you didn't bring your bike."

"Nope, Robin's got a Council van at your building."

"So, no Xander?" Dawn asked with a frown.

"Nope, the Xan-man is still in Africa, for now." She said with a wink, which made Dawn give a little smile of hope. Faith sat down and took a big swig of Dawn's mocha.

"Hey! Do we need to go right now,"

"Nope, I was sure you wouldn't be packed. I've gotten used to all of the mini-B's who aren't ready to go."

"How many?" Dawn asked quietly. Kurt wasn't sure who or what they were talking about, but Kurt had gotten used to the fact that not all of Dawn's stories added up completely. He noticed that Faith discretely held up 8 fingers.

"Hi, I'm Kurt," he said smiling at Faith, "and this is Rachel"

"Faith. Hey."

* * *

Dawn and Faith left Kurt and Rachel at the coffee shop a little while later. They wanted to sneak away, because a council van meant a witch, they were going to teleport back to Cleveland. Dawn was still a little unsure around magic because of Willow's addiction and all of the missing information about what being the key might mean if someone used the wrong spell.

The witch she was expecting was actually a guy. His name was Lucas Zizes, he grabbed Dawn's suitcase and her hand and in a blink they were standing just inside the doorway of the Council headquarters in Cleveland. Lucas disappeared for a moment and Dawn quickly moved out of the way so that there was room for him to bring back Faith and Robin.

_AN: I am really nervous about my Faith voice, let me know what you think and how I could make it better. _

_In your note leave me your fav Dawn/Faith or Kurt quote- _

_DAWN: "Spike. You sleep, right? You. Vampires. You sleep. Well, I can't take you in a fight or anything, even with a chip in your head. But you do sleep. If you hurt my sister at all... touch her... you're gonna wake up on fire."_

_I kind of LOVE Lauren Zizes_


	7. 4b

**Title: **Keys to Knowledge

**Chapter: **4b - Faith

**Fandom:** BTVS – Cross with Glee

**Characters: **Dawn Summers & Kurt Hummel, slash in later chapters

**Rating: **G for now will go up later (probably)

**Prompt:** 58 – Dinner varietypack100

**Word Count: **1583

**Disclaimer: **I do not profit from this work

**Summary: **Kurt is in New York, and so is someone else.

**Betas: **CouldIBeAnymoreofaGleek and Thea9.1

**This is a continuation of chapter 4, according to my plan and outline it should be about 18 chapters including appearances by many BTVS and Glee characters. Spike, one of my favourite Buffy characters, will not be in this story according to my plan. If you are looking for Spike, or if you love him as much as I do, check out my story "A Change of Scenery" as well as my drabbles; "Poetry" and "The Year of the Rabbit"**

The long weekend provided a much needed break for Kurt. He didn't get as much of a break as he wanted, what with Rachel in his dorm all weekend. Thankfully she had classes the last two days and was out early and in late. They spent most of their weekend watching old musicals. It started raining on Sunday so Kurt jumped "Singin' in the Rain" to the top of the list. He was ready for her to leave Tuesday morning before his roommate Malcolm was coming home. Rachel was having issues with one of her teachers and she could not stop complaining. It was on days like this that he had to think really hard to remember why they went from adversaries to best friends. Kurt's phone buzzed.

"How was ur wkend w/ Rachel? Miss you" – Blaine

"She's gone now. :P. Miss you too. Love you" He texted back. That reminded him that he had sent Dawn a few text messages that weekend and she hadn't answered. He checked his inbox and sent off a quick text asking her when she was coming back to the dorm. Surprisingly he a few seconds later he got a response.

"Just got off the plane at LaGuardia, i'll drop when I get in."

The long weekend in Cleveland was not the relaxing time Dawn had wished for. The second she got in she was handed a book of demonology and told to look for a demon that looked like a hyena mixed with a falcon. That seemed the weirdest combination. It made more sense when Giles' new watcher in training Gabriel, don't call me Gabe, found the demon. It was basically a hyena with falcon wings and claws on its front legs and paws on the back. As soon as they knew that they needed pure iron to slay this demon it was easy for Rona and Vi to get it off the streets of Cleveland.

As strange as it sounds Dawn felt it was nice to be in the middle of the hectic scene at the new headquarters; rushing around, looking for specific books, hunting for just the right weapon and spell. It was bizarre and dangerous; but it was her life.

"Hi Giles" Dawn said rushing up to him hugging him, after they had killed the Kitkubpos.

"Welcome home" he said with a smile.

The rest of the weekend was, thankfully, emergency free. Most of her time was spent working with Giles on her ancient languages and looking at the stone that Willow had sent back from Ecuador. When she wasn't with Giles working on her mind, she was with Rona or Vi working on her fighting. She knew that in the old council a watcher was not expected to be able to fight vampires, Giles had taught her that a great watcher worked with their slayer and was able to help her in every situation. During her first session with Vi, the other girl got emotional and lost control of her strength. She kicked Dawn halfway across the room where she landed on her phone.

The last day of her vacation arrived. Dawn was going to be flying back to New York, Giles decided that he didn't want to drain any of their new magic users, it had taken Lucas a full day to start to recover, and he was one of the more powerful witches at the Council. The only one based in Cleveland who was stronger than him is Penni, who has been working training the other magic users. She had whisked Faith and Robin back to New York after the battle. Just before she got on the plane Giles handed her a new cell phone, replacing the one she broke. She took the phone from Giles and rubbed her butt where she had landed and broken it.

When the plane landed Dawn turned on her new phone, and it beeped, and she saw she had 5 messages from Kurt. She sent off a message as she climbed into her cab. Just as she was paying the cabbie her phone beeped again. She pulled it out, laughing to herself thinking it was Kurt again, looked down and saw that it wasn't Kurt it was Faith.

"Whats up brat? Back in the city? Supper in an hour?"

"Sure, can I bring Kurt?"

"K"

Dawn raced up the stairs, part of her physical training, she shot down the hall and started rapping on Kurt's door. His room-mate Aiden answered the door and she smiled at him, then scurried through the first room and knocked incessantly on his door until he yelled out for her to come in.

"Get dressed." She said without saying hello, jumping on Kurt's bed.

"Why? What's going on?"

"We are going out for supper with Faith, and knowing her it will either be a whole in the wall or a fancy-schmancy dinner so you need to get dressed, we're leaving in an hour."

"An hour? Do you seriously think that's enough time?"

"Well it's all you got, get moving. I'm gonna drop my stuff off in my room and I'll be back in 45 minutes to check on you." Dawn said as she jumped off Kurt's bed and left his room.

Forty-five minutes later; Dawn was back at Kurt's door, finding it locked she went back to Aiden's room and sat and chatted with him. She didn't know where it came from but she felt as though she had a lot in common with him. He talked about his life in LA and his cousin Charles who lived with him and his mom for a few years growing up. Dawn talked about Willow living with her and Buffy during high school. Neither of them asked about the people they weren't talking about. There were no questions about Dawn's mom, and Dawn never asked why Charles moved out.

In the end, Kurt managed to get an hour and fifteen minutes to get ready, when he walked out Dawn had to say he looked like he had walked out of a magazine. Dawn regretfully said goodbye to Aiden and they made their way down to where Faith was waiting.

When they hit the sidewalk Faith ushered them down the street. At the corner of Broadway and East 10th street they were met by Robin and a young girl, who looked no older than 15. She stayed close to Robin's side, her eyes darting around the crowd.

"Did you get the reservations?" Faith asked

"We've got about 15 minutes before our seating."

"Great, where are we going?" Dawn asked

"It's a surprise." Faith said with a smirk.

"Robin, this is my friend Kurt, Kurt this in Robin; he used to be the principal at my school."

"Oh, hi." Said Kurt as they started down the street. Dawn tugged on Kurt's sleeve pulling him back, the continued on, trailing behind Robin, Faith and the young girl whose name he hadn't caught.

"How was your weekend with Rachel?"

"Pretty good, lazy, we watched a lot of old musicals. How was your weekend?"

"I worked on homework, Giles helped me with my ancient history assignment."

"Where are we going?"

"I'm not sure, I think somewhere fancy."

"Oh." Kurt said reaching for his wallet

"Don't worry, it's a council meal, Faith always eats on the council's dime." Kurt still wasn't sure if he was comfortable letting Faith pay for his food. Faith fell back with the students and looked at Kurt's face. She saw the discomfort in Kurt's eyes.

"Think of dinner as a thank you for keeping an eye on Dawn. We're feeding you, no questions. No arguments." They continued on in silence for another block, at one point Faith tilted her head and took a long look at Robin's ass. She gave a low whistle and Kurt looked at her with a question in her eyes. She watched him follow her eye line and raised her eyebrow. "He works out." She said with a smirk.

"I can tell." Kurt says laughing.

When they get to the restaurant Kurt is surprised to see that they are eating at _Butter._ Once the five of them are seated Faith and the young girl, whose name Kurt discovered is Teri, poured over the menu pointing out all of the items that they wanted to order.

"Kurt, just sit back and choose what you want. They will let you try whatever they order, but you have to be careful you don't lose a finger." Robin said.

When the waitress came and the girls started listing off what they wanted. Between the two of them they ordered 4 appetisers and 3 entrees. Robin looked at Faith when she was done and raised his eyebrow. "I'm saving room for dessert." She said with a smirk.

Kurt and Dawn ordered an appetiser to share and they each ordered an entree, Kurt ordered the vegetarian ravioli, the cheapest entree on the menu.

Dinner passed without incident. There was a tense moment when Dawn reached for one of Faith's scallops and she almost got a fork in the back of her hand.

They all walked back to the dorm together. Dawn and Kurt went inside and as they were getting into the elevator Faith and Teri's heads shot up, they looked at eachother and then at Robin.

"Go!" he said. Dawn stepped out of the elevator and waved to Kurt as the doors closed behind her.

"What?" Kurt said to himself.

_AN: For Kurt's dorm layout go to Brittany, he's in 7E. I'm not really sure where Aiden came from, and the idea of making her Dawn's love interest just happened as I was writing this chapter._


	8. 5a

**Title: **Keys of Knowledge

**Chapter: **5a

**Writer:** Grenouillenue

**Fandom:** BTVS – Cross with Glee

**Characters: **Dawn Summers & Kurt Hummel, slash in later chapters

**Rating: **G for now will go up later (probably)

**Prompt:** tamingthemuse # 350 - sarcasm

**Word Count: **516

**Disclaimer: **I do not profit from this work

**Summary: **Kurt is in New York, and so is someone else.

**AN: Points if you catch the BTVS musical reference and the one from Ted.**

Dawn avoided Kurt for the next few days; Kurt made it difficult for her. He wanted answers. He wanted to know what was going on. Dawn knew Kurt's schedule which allowed her to come and go from the dorms when he was in class. Wednesday afternoon Kurt's English class was cancelled which explains why Dawn found him sitting outside her dorm room door. As she got off the elevator she peered down the industrial grey hallway spotting the slouched form of Kurt leaning against the wall next to her door. He had a notepad in his hand but was staring at the faux wood floor in front of his stylish yet affordable boots. This was the first time that Dawn had seen him without his patented smirk and twinkle in his eyes, that faint indication that there was a running bitch commentary going on behind those eyes, his sarcastic wit simmering just below the surface. Dawn knew she shouldn't have avoided him, she was dreading explaining what had happened with Faith and Robin. She and Faith had come up with a fairly believable cover story, the problem was, Kurt was her only real friend at school. Even her roommates were distant; she had a hard time talking to people. Having spent so much time with the Scoobies, being so open about the reality of demons and vampires, she was having a hard time keeping quiet and editing her stories. Sometimes she felt the need to go overboard and people thought she was fake. Somehow with Kurt she managed to tone it down and not give anything away about the supernatural but she managed to be herself.

"Hi." She said slightly hesitantly, knowing that she had been avoiding him.

"Well, hello, you do still live here."

"Kurt, I know."

"I mean, it's just so surprising that you are still alive. I thought I'd walk out here and see your room-mates in mourning about your death."

"Alright, I got it. At this point you are abusing sarcasm; the horse is dead, put down the club."

"So, are you going to tell me what happened this weekend?"

"Teri and Faith saw Vi's boyfriend kissing another girl. They tend to overreact, somewhat violently. That's why Robin and I went after them."

"What did they do to him?"

"Not too much, we caught up to them in time."

"What would they have done?" Kurt said both intrigued and slightly horrified by the thought of violence, having been a victim throughout high school.

"Well he was limping when we left. Faith looked like she was ready to pound him into the pavement."

"How is... umm.. Vicki?"

"Vi. She's coping." Dawn said, realizing that this part of the story was something she and Faith hadn't scripted. "She and Rona had an ice cream and Thelma and Louise day."

"Sarandon and Davis, always a winner."

"Wanna come in and hang out?" Dawn asked, motioning towards her door.

"Sure." They walked into Dawn's room and were hit with a wall of sound coming from the adjoining room. "My room?"

"Definitely." Dawn answered with a smile.


End file.
